Lin Bu
Lin Bu | |||||||||
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林逋 | |||||||||
 Painting of Lin Bu by Kitayama Kangan (北山 寒厳). Japan, Edo period, 18th century | |||||||||
| Born | 967 | ||||||||
| Died | 1028 (aged 60–61) Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China | ||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Poet Hermit | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Chinese | 林逋 | ||||||||
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| Courtesy name Junfu | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 君復 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 君复 | ||||||||
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| Posthumous name Hejing Xiansheng | |||||||||
| Chinese | 和靖先生 | ||||||||
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| Lin Hejing | |||||||||
| Chinese | 林和靖 | ||||||||
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| Nickname Buxian | |||||||||
| Chinese | 逋仙 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | the Fleeing Immortal | ||||||||
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Lin Bu (967–1028),[1] formerly romanized as Lin Pu and also known by his posthumous name as Lin Hejing, was a Chinese poet and hermit during the Northern Song dynasty.
Life
[edit]One of the most famous verse masters of his era,[2] Lin Bu was born in 967, a time when Hangzhou was still the capital of the independent kingdom of Wuyue. This was absorbed by Song in 978. Lin lived as a recluse on Gushan ("Solitary Island") in West Lake from about the age of 40 until his death[3] in 1028. At the time, the lake was outside Hangzhou's walls and he supposedly never deigned to enter them.[1] He was never, however, a strict hermit: he had servants[4] and met and talked constantly with nearby scholars, Buddhist monks, and other guests.[5] He was famed for his skill at Chinese chess and the guqin,[3] as well as writing. If visitors arrived while he was boating on the lake, he would be summoned back by seeing one of his cranes released by his staff.[4] His supposed grave has been restored on Gushan Island, along with a commemorative pavilion called the "Crane Releasing Pavilion"[3] (放鶴亭, Fànghètíng).
His descendant Lin Hong (林洪) later imitated his lifestyle, retiring to a hermitage on Gushan as well in the 13th century.[6]
Works
[edit]
Japan, Edo period, 17th century.
His works and theatrical solitude won him nationwide fame,[2] and he was offered prestigious government posts, although he refused all civic duties in pursuit of his poetry. Long after he died, Lin's eccentric attitude and his works retained a vivid place in Song cultural imagination and later works.[2] His supposed claim that the plum blossom was his wife and the cranes he raised were his sons became a standard motif in Chinese poetry concerning seclusion from the world.[7]
Lin is well known for his romantic poems. The most famous and influential was a couplet from the two-verse "Small Plum in a Mountain Garden" (《山園小梅》, Shānyuán Xiǎoméi),[8] also known as "How Plum Flowers Embarrass a Garden".[9]
疏影橫斜水清淺， Shū yǐng héng xié shuǐ qīng qiǎn, Sparse shadows crossing,
Slanting waters clear and shoal,暗香浮動月黃昏。 àn xiāng fúdòng yuè huánghūn. Hidden fragrance floating,
Drifting moon yellow and dim.
It was prized as a vivid instance of appreciating quiet subtle beauty in mundane things; allusions to it became a way of signalling other writers' own similar sophistication.[10]
Another example of his work is "Everlasting Longing" (《長相思》, Chángxiāngsī):[11]
吴山青。 Wúshān qīng. The northern hills so green, 越山青。 Yuèshān qīng. The southern hills so green, 兩岸青山相對迎。 Liǎng'àn qīngshān xiāngduì yíng. They greet your ship which sails the river between. 爭忍有離情。 Shuí zhī líbié qíng. My grief at parting is so keen. 君淚盈。 Jūn lèi yíng. Tears streaming from your eyes, 妾淚盈。 Qiè lèi yíng. Tears streaming from my eyes, 羅帶同心結未成。 Luó dài tóngxīn jié wèichéng. In vain we tried to join by marriage ties. 江邊潮已平。 Jiāngtóu cháo yǐ píng. I see the silent river rise.
He is traditionally associated with the guqin piece "Moon atop a Plum Tree" (梅梢月, Meishao Yue), believed to resemble his "Small Plum in a Mountain Garden".[3] In Japan, the melodies "Plum Blossoms" (梅花) and "Flying Snow Crystal Intonation" (飛瓊吟) traditionally employ lyrics drawn from Lin Bu's poetry.[3]
Gallery
[edit]-
Lin Bu's Tomb on Gushan Island, West Lake, Hangzhou (2018) -
Hangzhou's Crane-Releasing Pavilion (1922) -
Painting of Lin Bu by Kanō Tsunenobu (18th cent.)
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b Edwards (2011), p. 58.
- ^ a b c Sun Chang & al. (2008), p. 371.
- ^ a b c d e Zhou (1919).
- ^ a b Liu (2016), p. 202.
- ^ Protass (2025), p. 229.
- ^ Edwards (2011), p. 60.
- ^ Fong (2008), p. 117.
- ^ Edwards (2011), pp. 58–59.
- ^ "48. Moon atop a Plum Tree", John Thompson on the Guqin Silk String Zither.
- ^ Protass (2025), pp. 229–230.
- ^ 許淵冲 (1986). 100 Tang and Song Ci Poems. 商務印書館香港分館. ISBN 9789620710773.
Bibliography
[edit]
- Edwards, Richard (2011), The Heart of Ma Yuan: The Search for a Southern Song Aesthetic, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
- Fong, Grace Sieugit (2008), Herself as an Author: Gender, Agency, and Writing in Late Imperial China, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
- Liu Fangru (2016), Huáxià Yìshù zhōng de Zìrán Guān: Táng Jiǎng Gùgōng Wénwù Xuǎn Cuì Tè Zhǎn Biānzhě 華夏藝術中的自然觀: 唐獎故宮文物選萃特展 [Viewing Nature in Chinese Art: A Special Exhibit of Selected Artifacts from the Museum Collection to Celebrate the 2016 Tang Prize], Taipei: National Palace Museum.
- Protass, Jason (2025), "The Plum-Blossom Monk: Jichan", Buddhist Masters of Modern China: The Lives and Legacies of Eight Teachers, Boulder: Shambhala Publications, pp. 219–262.
- Sun Chang, Kang-i; et al., eds. (2008), The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature, Vol. 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-85558-7.
- Zhou Qingyun (1919), Qin Shi Bu 琴書補 [Supplement to the History of the Guqin], translated by John Thompson.
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